Green Bay — Adrian Wilson, the Arizona Cardinals' three-time Pro Bowl strong safety, sounded like someone who never wanted to see Jermichael Finley again after a 51-45 overtime victory over Green Bay in the wild-card playoffs.

"He's very comparable to Antonio Gates," Wilson said at his locker in January. "Hell of a player. He can do it all."

The lithe, speedy Gates has played as well if not better than any tight end in the National Football League since his career took off in 2004. That was his second year in San Diego, just like 2009 was Finley's second year in Green Bay.

Finley didn't explode from the get-go as did Gates in Year 2. He had a modest 16 catches and one touchdown through the first five games, then suffered a sprained knee on his third snap in Week 6 and sat out three games.

After that, Finley went ballistic, averaging 5.5 catches and 71.9 yards over the last eight games. In the finale, he caught six for 159 against Arizona, the second most yards by an NFL tight end in playoff history.

Physically, Finley has it all.

His overall size and huge wingspan, 4.65-second speed in the 40-yard dash, graceful gait and soft hands could allow him to surpass Paul Coffman, Mark Chmura and Ron Kramer as the finest tight end in club history.

Finley also is blessed to be in a fully dimensional offense with a head coach willing to play to his unconventional strengths, a top young quarterback, continuity on the offensive coaching staff and a flock of wide receivers talented enough to prevent defenses from doubling him.

"They've got two pretty damn good wide receivers on the outside," an NFL personnel director said. "You've got to respect that Aaron (Rodgers) can get the ball down the field to them consistently, so then you take the top off the defense. By doing that you open up everything underneath."

A need to mature

Yet, Finley is no sure thing.

He was late for several meetings last season and then blew curfew before the playoff game. Attitude and off-the-field considerations were reasons why Finley was the 91st selection (and seventh tight end) in the 2008 draft.

It will be month-to-month, even week-to-week with Finley, who played just two seasons at Texas and didn't turn 23 until March. As of late June, Finley was in good graces.

"In the OTAs he had the least amount of mental errors of anybody," said Ben McAdoo, the tight ends coach since 2006. "He's applying himself. He knows the offense. He's not comfortable getting by on talent alone. He wants more."

Before his knee injury, Finley was splitting time with Donald Lee. In those first six games, he was split wide or in the slot on 26.6% of his snaps, about the same as Lee.

Post-injury, those numbers were vastly different, with 47.4% of his playing time split or in the slot. And, when the desperation of playing catch-up in the playoffs confronted McCarthy, Finley was flanked wide on 38 of 63 snaps (60%), 12 more times than in any other game.

Against Arizona, he caught a 44-yard jump ball against a cornerback, Bryant McFadden; a 43-yard short pass against a safety, Wilson; and a 38-yard corner route against a linebacker, Gerald Hayes.

"You can make two tight-end personnel groups look like a one tight end and three to look like two," McAdoo said. "It forces a defense sometimes to tip their coverage even though they don't want to. It keeps the defense honest."

In 14 games, including playoffs, Finley caught 61 passes for 835 yards and a 13.7 average, including a hefty 5.7 after the catch. His totals included 12 gains of 20 yards or more. He dropped four passes.

Mainly because of Finley, the tight ends were the target of 24.9% of the passes, surpassing 1993 (22.4%) as the most tight-end oriented season during the team's 18-year history in the West Coast offense. With 80 targeted passes, Finley ranked third behind Mark Chmura (87, 1995) and Jackie Harris (86, 1992) among the team's tight ends in the West Coast era.

Keith Jackson, who could run and catch like Finley but at 6 feet 2 inches was 2½ inches shorter, caught 45 of 71 targeted balls for 549 yards and 10 touchdowns in 19 games when the Packers won the Super Bowl in 1996.

Before 2009, the tight ends under McCarthy had to be content with target shares of 17.3% in 2006, 16.5% in 2007 and 14.1% in 2008.

"It will be interesting to see what happens to us in a year," said McAdoo. "We've got some guys who are unpolished . . . it's going to be exciting to watch."

Finley also started taking more pride in his blocking last year and became adequate. Still, McAdoo said Lee was the unit's best blocker in '09.

The fact that Lee was the starter for 43 games over the last five seasons, however, doesn't - by a long shot - mean he will be No. 2. Offensive coordinator Joe Philbin and McAdoo declared that berth wide open.

Chances decline

Described by some scouts over the years as a glorified wide receiver, Lee's opportunities outside the formation dwindled as Finley's expanded. The coaches appeared to lose some confidence in Lee, who finished with the worst drop rate (14.6%) on the team.

One month shy of his 30th birthday, Lee also had a bad year in 2006 before managing an exemplary about-face. Now he must do it again, starting with catching the ball in his hands instead of body-catching everything.

"Everybody wants to write him off but the guy has been a good contributor around here for a long time," said Philbin. "He fought the ball a little bit last year. Let's be honest. Maybe he lost a little confidence in his ability to catch. He has looked better."

Rookie Andrew Quarless might run a faster 40 than Finley. He reminded one scout of former Packer David Martin because of his athleticism and inconsistency at Penn State. It wouldn't be surprising if Quarless makes the team and then has a nondescript rookie season a la Finley.

"You're seeing the development of a young tight end," McAdoo said. "He's playing a receiver-type position, a fullback-type position and a tight end-type position.

"Thing I like about Drew, he's very conscientious and smart. We just need to get him playing faster consistently. Obviously, we like his up side."

Spencer Havner ended up playing 221 snaps after being converted from inside linebacker a week into training camp. Then he turned five of the 13 balls thrown his way into touchdowns.

On March 13, Havner suffered a broken shoulder bone in an early-morning motorcycle crash in California and missed the entire off-season.

"He would have had a chance to really polish up his fundamentals, especially in the run game," said McAdoo. "I would have loved to have had him this off-season. He's got natural hands."

Now it's incumbent upon Havner to become a worthy and cheaper alternative to Lee in case the veteran should falter.